Food Safety

Recently, Ben came home with one of his granola bars in his lunch, still uneaten. When asked why he didn't eat it, he said it was because it said it was past its expiration date (12 JUN 14). He was very concerned. Of course, this is June 12th, 2014 and not June 14th, 2012.... but it's admittedly ambiguous. Once he realized that it was ok, he thought it was pretty funny.

And then there was tonight. He stopped practicing his piano because he had something "very important" to show Stephanie.

He pulled a pack of Fruit Gushers out of the pantry and proceeded to say, "You gave me fruit snacks today at school. Look at this. It says right here:

'KEEP KIDS SAFE! To avoid choking, give Fruit Flavored Snacks only to children who can easily swallow chewy foods. Children should be seated and supervised while eating.'

But there's hardly any adult supervision in the cafeteria!"

This was a difficult situation. He was really upset and on the verge of tears. Stephanie and I were both having trouble holding in our own emotions. You definitely don't want to convey certain kinds of emotions when your child is upset.

He continued, "Porter says that you're probably breaking some kind of law."

Stephanie buried his head in her shirt and hugged him tight. I had to walk into the other room.

After we all calmed down a bit we explained to him that we are here to keep him safe, we would never intentionally put him in danger, and if he felt his fruit snacks were too dangerous, we would not buy them any more. It wasn't the right time for a deep-dive discussion about corporate paranoia in our "not my fault" society, or the controversial nature of the Fruit Gushers ingredient list.

I hope he never starts reading the internet.